Africa: Water and climate change negotiations

IPS reports on the issue of water security and highlights that although water is at the centre of climate change impact, the topic is rarely included in climate negotiations.

"There is no single dedicated United Nations agency for water, and there's no international Convention regulating water resource management and there is no water focus under the UNFCCC," says Dr Ania Grobicki, executive secretary of the Global Water Partnership (GWP). "Water also evaporated from the text of the Copenhagen Accord."

"Apart from hard adaptation measures like dams, dykes and treatment plants, it’s important to build capacity to assist decision-making processes between countries," says Alex Simalabwi from GWP's Partnership for Africa's Water Development project.